KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 16): Cybersecurity resilience is a top priority for companies in Malaysia, as they look to defend against a rapidly evolving threat landscape, according to technology firm Cisco.

In its "Security Outcomes Report" released recently, Cisco identified the top seven success factors that boost enterprise security resilience, with a particular focus on cultural, environmental, and solution-based factors that businesses leverage to achieve security.

The findings are based on survey responses from over 4,700 participants across 26 countries.

The report showed that resilience had emerged as a top priority, as 80% of organisations surveyed said they had experienced a security event that impacted their business in the past two years.

The leading types of incidents were ransomware events (57%), accidental disclosure (53%), distributed denial of service attack (51%), and network or data breaches (48%).

Cisco said these incidents resulted in severe repercussions for the companies that experienced them, along with the ecosystem of organisations they do business with.

The leading impacts cited include information technology/communications interruption, lasting brand damage, loss of competitive advantage, and supply chain disruptions.

Cisco Business Security Group chief information security officer Helen Patton said technology is transforming businesses at a scale and speed never seen before.

"While this is creating new opportunities, it also brings with it challenges, especially on the security front. To be able to tackle these effectively, companies need the ability to anticipate, identify, and withstand cyberthreats, and if breached be able to rapidly recover from one. That is what building resilience is all about.

“Security, after all, is a risk business. As companies don’t secure everything, everywhere, security resilience allows them to focus their security resources on the pieces of the business that add the most value to an organisation, and ensure that value is protected,” she said.